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CCBL RANKINGS: Cotuit stays at 1, but spots 2-5 look different

andré simms, cape cod times
·4 min read

The Centennial season of the Cape Cod Baseball League is through its first 15 games of the season, and teams are jockeying for position in each division.

The theme of these rankings is change. They show just how quickly the landscape of the league can change in a week. Only one team, the Cotuit Kettleers, retains the same spot as last week, and two of the teams make their debut in the top five after missing the cut last week.

With the Men's College World Series coming to a close, more players have been arriving, and rosters across the league are starting to take their final forms.

Here are the second Cape Cod Baseball Rankings of 2023:

Record as of Wednesday morning and last week's ranking in parenthesis.

1. Cotuit Kettleers (10-5, 1)

Cotuit may have come back down to earth over the last week (3-3), but the Kettleers still find themselves atop the West Division, with a four-point lead over the second place Wareham Gatemen. The Kettleers pitching staff continues to be the stingiest in the league when it comes to runs allowed. Camron Hill (Georgia Tech), has been one of the best relievers on the Cape this season. The junior has yet to give up a run through five appearances, and has a league high 19 strikeouts in 12.2 innings pitched. Rafe Schlesinger (Miami) has been another weapon out of the Cotuit bullpen, and has a .84 ERA in four appearances, with 10 strikeouts. Jake Gigliotti (Northeastern), has made two starts for the Kettleers and has an ERA of 1.03.

More: State Champs finish on top: Cape Cod high school baseball rankings

2. Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (9-5-1, 3)

The Red Sox used a 4-2 week to jump the Mariners into first place in the East Division. The Red Sox have a quintet of players: Max Viera (Seton Hall), Nathan Archer (Bowling Green), Hunter Hines (Mississippi St.), Enzo Apodaca (Gonzaga), and Will King (Eastern Kentucky), who have all played at least 15 games, and are hitting above .300. Throw in RJ Davis (Vanderbilt), who is hitting .381 through six games, and you get an incredibly balanced, and incredibly potent lineup. The Red Sox have scored 83 runs this summer, tied for second in the league. Hines leads the league in both home runs (6) and RBIs (21). Khal Stephen (Purdue), has the second most strikeouts among pitchers this season (17), in 14 innings pitched, and Blake Aita (Kennesaw State) hasn't given up a run in four appearances.

3. Harwich Mariners (9-5, 2)

Harwich went 3-2 last week and didn't really play themselves out of second place, as much as Y-D took it. The Mariners still boast one of the best hitters on the Cape this season in Wingate's Seamus King. King has had 16 hits in 34 at bats (.471), and has scored 12 runs in nine games. Old Dominion senior Hunter Fitz-Gerald was recently released, and the Mariners will have to replace his production in the lineup. Fitz-Gerald hit .349, with eight runs, and six RBIs in his 12 games with Harwich. Princeton's Matt Scannell, and UNC Greensboro's Kennedy Jones are tied for the team lead with 13 RBIs this season.

More: Sturgis takes top spot after 18- win season: Cape Cod high school softball rankings

4. Wareham Gatemen (7-6-2, NR)

The Gatemen make their first appearance in the rankings this season, after going 3-2-1 last week. The Gatemen are back above .500 and have the highest run total of any team in the league (86). Arizona State's Nick McLain has been arguably the Gatemen's best hitter this year, leading his team in average (.364), tied for the team lead in home runs (3), and second in RBIs (10). St. John's David Glacy is the other Gateman tied with McLain with three home runs, and leads the Gatemen with 11 RBIs. West Virginia's Landon Wallace has hit .357 in his five games, and Seton Hall's Jedier Hernandez has hit .353 in his seven games. Despite their 86 runs scored, the Gatemen's run differential is only plus 10. Their 76 runs allowed is tied for second most in the league.

5. Bourne Braves (7-7-1, NR)

The Braves struggled to begin the 2023 season, going 0-4-1 over the first five games. Since then, Scott Landers' group has turned it around, and have gone 7-3 over their last ten. A key cog in that turnaround has been the arrival of Derek Bender (Coastal Carolina). In Bender's eight games, he's slashing .567/.618/1.033 and has hit three home runs, three doubles, and ten RBIs. Bender has had a multi hit game in six games so far. His college teammate Caden Bodine, has also provided a boost with his bat. In four games, Bodine is 7-17 (.412), has scored three runs scored, and five RBIs. Kade Grundy (Louisville) has pitched well out of the Braves bullpen. Through three appearances, Grundy has struck out ten over eight innings, and has an ERA of 1.13.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod Baseball League rankings